Windows 10 UEFI Installation Stick

[Rheinwasser]

I can't figure out how to create a bootable installation stick for an UEFI installation stick for windows 10.

 

i have tried:

• Microsoft MediaCreationTool
• Rufus with various settings
• Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

The .iso I usedwith all of these is the iso I grabbed from the MediaCreationTool.

 

All of them work when I switch the option from UEFI/CSM enabled to Both/Legacy first/CSM enabled. Secure Boot is obviously disabled.

The USB stick I use shows up in boot order as 'USB HDD: ADATA [...]', no matter what options I choose. Shouldn't it be 'UEFI: ADATA [...]'?

 

I am currently running a non-UEFI installation of windows 10 (installed via windows upgrade) on my lenovo E550 ThinkPad.

Any help is appreciated.

[Guest]

Yes you are right, it should show up as UEFI:ADATA... espically if other devices show up with the UEFI "tag" before them, I have had that problem multiple times before too here's what I wouydl try:

• Select the ISO FIRST (this is important) before confirming you are using the GPT partition scheme for UEFI (explanation: slecting GPT for UEFI then selecting the ISO will revert back to MBR for BIOS)
• Disable CSM entirely
• Go to Secure boot settings and select Windows UEFI mode (or something like that)
• then If that doesn't work try disabling USB legacy options or compatibility or something like that in the UEFI, the reason it shows up as not UEFI is probbly because it is runnning in compatibility mode

[Guest]

"You don't really need an UEFI stick to install a UEFI Windows, what you really need is a GPT disk layout and EFI partition."
 

And a FAT32 formatted USB stick doesn't work with NTFS

[Rheinwasser]

 

You can use Rufus to create a UEFI only stick. Sometimes there are settings that prevent booting from USB EFI, you can play with them. You don't really need an UEFI-only stick to install a UEFI Windows, what you really need is a GPT disk layout and EFI partition.

There are some pretty dangerous ways to convert a common Bios install to UEFI without reinstalling everything (always backup everything), one of them described in TechNet forums: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/14286.converting-windows-bios-installation-to-uefi.aspx

 

so no matter what options i choose i will always end up with a stick that is capable of installing windows in uefi  mode? what exactly is a gpt disk? just a stick that uses gpt?

 

i know there are a few ways to convert your installation but i would actually prefer to do a fresh install.

 

 

Yes you are right, it should show up as UEFI:ADATA... espically if other devices show up with the UEFI "tag" before them, I have had that problem multiple times before too here's what I wouydl try:

• Select the ISO FIRST (this is important) before confirming you are using the GPT partition scheme for UEFI (explanation: slecting GPT for UEFI then selecting the ISO will revert back to MBR for BIOS)
• Disable CSM entirely
• Go to Secure boot settings and select Windows UEFI mode (or something like that)
• then If that doesn't work try disabling USB legacy options or compatibility or something like that in the UEFI, the reason it shows up as not UEFI is probbly because it is runnning in compatibility mode

 

there is actually no device that shows up as UEFI:[..] since my current installation is not a uefi installation either.

i made sure that it uses gpt and i have also tried disabling csm. i will try the other two suggestions later.

thanks a lot mate.

 

 

"You don't really need an UEFI stick to install a UEFI Windows, what you really need is a GPT disk layout and EFI partition."

 

And a FAT32 formatted USB stick doesn't work with NTFS

 

does that have any impact on what i am doing?

[Rheinwasser]

If using Rufus, you can choose either Bios/UEFI MBR or UEFI GPT. You can install UEFI Windows with both of them.

GPT is a partition scheme, nicer than basic MBR, allows more partitions, far better organization and etc.

 

In theory, you need to wipe your entire disk to convert it from MBR to GPT (diskpart> convert gpt). When you're installing windows, if you remove every partition from the disk, it should convert automatically to GPT and create an EFI partition in the beginning of disk. After installing, you should be able to set the boot to UEFI and activate the SecureBoot feature.

thanks.

the problem i am having is that i can not even select the usb stick as a uefi installation medium.

[Rheinwasser]

I don't know about Lenovo bios/uefi options, but ESC or F12 should open a boot selection menu on most computers, and there you can select the USB stick to boot.

that is not the problem. i know how to open a boot menu.

 

the problem that i cant select my stick as a uefi boot. if i enable uefi/csm enabled and then select the stick the screen turns black for a moment and then the boot menu appears again.

i can uefi boot a standard windows 7 installation dvd just fine. 

 

 

my stick should be able to boot as uefi, its formatted as fat32 and has all the efi folders it needs.

[NumLock21]

1. In Rufus, make sure you have the following options set

A. Partition is set to GPT for UEFI computer

B. File system is FAT32

C. Cluster size , set at the default cluster size

D. Enable Quick Format

E. Enable Create a Bootable disk using and select ISO Image, then click on the DVD icon to browse to your Windows 10 iso image.

F. If it ask what are you doing, select Standard Windows Installation

G. Enable Create Extended Label and Icon files

2. Once you have all of those, then click start and it should create a UEFI bootable drive

3. Go into bios and reset back to defaults, then save and exit

4. Boot from your USB drive and being installation.

* Depending on your system, it should tell you which key to press to show the boot list. If there is no key, then go into bios and see if boot menu will let you do a boot override where it lets you boot from a specific device.

[Rheinwasser]

Try to disable some legacy options (like CSM) from bios menu, disable secure boot, fast boot and other stuff alike. You can reenable them after installing Windows. =/

tried that. i have secure boot disabled all the time, otherwise i wouldnt be able to boot from any other boot media, would i?

 

It should say uefi : adata stick

 

Why would you disable secure boot ?

 

For a friend of mine i made pure uefi stick it would't see it inside bios untill i formated it as mbr + uefi, after that i could select to boot it as uefi.

but it doesnt do that. i can enable secure boot, from my understanding it wouldnt work with it enabled.

i have read that for uefi the installation medium has to be gpt, isnt that true?

 

1. In Rufus, make sure you have the following options set

A. Partition is set to GPT for UEFI computer

B. File system is FAT32

C. Cluster size , set at the default cluster size

D. Enable Quick Format

E. Enable Create a Bootable disk using and select ISO Image, then click on the DVD icon to browse to your Windows 10 iso image.

F. If it ask what are you doing, select Standard Windows Installation

G. Enable Create Extended Label and Icon files

2. Once you have all of those, then click start and it should create a UEFI bootable drive

3. Go into bios and reset back to defaults, then save and exit

4. Boot from your USB drive and being installation.

* Depending on your system, it should tell you which key to press to show the boot list. If there is no key, then go into bios and see if boot menu will let you do a boot override where it lets you boot from a specific device.

that's exactly what i did. thanks though.

[NumLock21]

tried that. i have secure boot disabled all the time, otherwise i wouldnt be able to boot from any other boot media, would i?

 

but it doesnt do that. i can enable secure boot, from my understanding it wouldnt work with it enabled.

i have read that for uefi the installation medium has to be gpt, isnt that true?

 

that's exactly what i did. thanks though.

Try a different usb port? Sometimes usb 3 might be picky, but i also have a adata flash drive. using rufus to make a win10 drive. it does let me choose either uefi or non uefi. Maybe there might be something with the win10 download? Might want to download the usb version of win10 and let the creation tool create it for you? If the problem still exist, then it could be your flash drive.

[Rheinwasser]

Try a different usb port? Sometimes usb 3 might be picky, but i also have a adata flash drive. using rufus to make a win10 drive. it does let me choose either uefi or non uefi. Maybe there might be something with the win10 download? Might want to download the usb version of win10 and let the creation tool create it for you? If the problem still exist, then it could be your flash drive.

have tried multiple usb ports. ok, i'll check the iso and the usb port.

 

i cant use the media creation tool since the tool is not capable of creating uefi capable sticks.

thanks a lot mate.

[NumLock21]

 

have tried multiple usb ports. ok, i'll check the iso and the usb port.

 

i cant use the media creation tool since the tool is not capable of creating uefi capable sticks.

thanks a lot mate.

I believe it can, tried it when I was upgrading to 8.1, The media creation tool does create a uefi version of it

[Rheinwasser]

I believe it can, tried it when I was upgrading to 8.1, The media creation tool does create a uefi version of it

then i'll try that as well.

[Master Disaster]

You don't have to do anything special at all.

Fully format the USB to FAT32, copy everything from the DVD/ISO and paste it onto the drive.

That's it.

[grayperview]

the way i did mine was very simple, i used rufus to make a UEFI bootable stick, i then formatted the stick and used the creation tool to make the windows 10 stick, boots using UEFI for me with no problems....

[Rheinwasser]

You don't have to do anything special at all.

Fully format the USB to FAT32, copy everything from the DVD/ISO and paste it onto the drive.

That's it.

 

 

the way i did mine was very simple, i used rufus to make a UEFI bootable stick, i then formatted the stick and used the creation tool to make the windows 10 stick, boots using UEFI for me with no problems....

i start to think that it is not the stick but rather my laptop or its uefi..

i'll get in contact with lenovo and report back if i can figure something out.